Code Geass: Requiem
by KarumA-chan
Summary: A man walks this world his name and history unknown however the face he carries is one of a man who has sinned, a man he doesn't remember being, a man named Lelouch vi Britannia. Suza/Lulu in later chapters, set after the series final. enjoy!
1. Prologue: The isolated man

**Code Geass: ****Requiem**

**Chapter ****00: Prologue, The isolated man.**

**Set after the series finally**

**Writer: Karuma**

**Don't own**

This is the prologue to a short story that I just had to start writing after the series had ended, because I'm a frustrated little fangirl of course. It's Suzalulu, but not in the start chapters. This is the prologue for it so enjoy!

* * *

"_And now the world can be unified at one table, not through military force, but through negotiation and talk. It can embrace the future."_

2018 was now the year that the World had begun to change, it was the year that the angel on wings had stabbed the Devil in his heart and thereby had changed hell into Eden. The angel's mask merely hid the fact that underneath his wings there were still horns, he would remain masked to hide this devilish feature so that he could serve as the messiah above them all.

However the death of the Devil is not eternal. He reopened his eyes when he was finally able to take in a deep breath of air, the dust in it made him cough and his eyes narrowed and filled with tears as he smelled the earth within the air he breathed. There was nothing but darkness and his hands clung up only to feel a wooden surface above and with that came panic. His hands rubbed against the surface as if looking for a hatch but there was nothing, the hands however didn't stop looking and the speed with which they passed over the surface increased as well as his breathing.

"I don't want to die"

He whimpered out as his nails dug deeper into the surface, he was afraid and remained still in hope that there would be help coming from outside to aid him but it remained dead quiet. He hated this silence.


	2. Dirt covered hands

**Code Geass: ****Requiem**

**Chapter ****01: Dirt covered hands**

**Writer: Karum****A-chan**

**Set after the series finally**

**Don't own**

Chapter one, thanks for the reviews and alerts coming in, when I opened my mail box it seemed that had problems distributing those emails to me again and so I received quite a shocker when I saw 55 mails from them in my inbox.

To answer to one review in particular as to why Lelouch said that he wanted to live while he is more of a strategist, it is because of what C.C. said in the ending, you will have to dig deep to figure out what I mean but it has to do with the reason why she said this, not the words but in general why she was talking to herself once again, if you figure it out you get a cookie but I'm not going to spoil it, you will find out on your own.

PS: I was drunk when writing the second half :P

* * *

"_And now the world can be unified at one table, not through military force, but through negotiation and talk. It can embrace the future."_

Something was wrong here. This had to be a joke of some kind, but he couldn't help but feel that this might indeed be real because there were enough people in the world that would do this after everything that even involved his name or mention, however to him it still seemed like a sick joke. The bouquet of white roses fell to the ground, the white leaves staining with fresh brown dirt that surrounded the nameless grave that stood alone. The air was dim and grey and it had already been raining, he carried no umbrella because he felt that it wasn't needed.

He had decided that this were to become his monthly routine, to come and bring him flowers and to note him that he was not forgotten. The tombstone carried no name, there was no indication that someone was buried here either yet only he and a few others knew of this location. Only they knew where the devil had been buried and now it seemed that he was missing from his cave.

"Lelouch..."

His mouth let out a whisper, it was the only thing visible because a long hood covered the rest of his face. The whisper came out as a calling as if he expected someone near him, as if he expected that the hole in his heart was merely walking around ready to fill him up again. Bending down to his knees he rethought his previous theory, it had been about a week since his death but since no one knew who was buried here it made no sense that they might have robbed this grave. Also as he now ran his hands over the collapsed fresh dirt did he realise that there were no signs of digging, in fact by the sight of the scene he'd even conclude that something broke out but that was impossible.

"That is.. impossible."

He whispered out, repeating his previous thoughts as his widened eyes scanned the ground for any signs and his hand traced over to what he believed was an imprint of fingers dug into the dirt, as if they clung to it for life. Lelouch couldn't be alive, even if so where would he go? He looked over his shoulder at the dirt ridden path that led back to the main road, he then noticed footprints in them, sunk deep into the fresh mud and with that he became instantly afraid of what had happened. His phone vibrated and instantly a hand dug into one of his pockets.

"Hello..."

"_Zero-sama, your plane is waiting. Nunnally-denka is set to leave__ at dawn."_

"I see, thank you. I'll be right there."

"_Suzaku you will become a hero. You will become Zero, saviour of the world, who rescued everyone from the enemy of the world, Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia."_

That's right, He was no longer the Knight of 0 or the man he used to be, Kururugi Suzaku. He had taken the offered mask without realising its consequence and now he was Zero, the man he once hated and the man who now was in the Empress her service, the 100th Empress Nunnally vi Britannia. He lived a live of regret and carried that weight on his shoulders as he passed out his own happiness for the others to receive, this weight was put on his shoulders by no other than the person he loved and kissed, it was put there by a person no other than the one he had stabbed in his heart with a long sword. He picked up the flowers and placed them in front of the open grave, it was useless he knew but he didn't know what to do with them and them lying there was simply a symbol, he hadn't forgotten about Lelouch and his sacrifice, he still loved him and wished every day and night that he was still here, hugging him from behind and whispering in his ears that everything would be alright and that he would forgive him for this.

He snorted and realised that he was getting emotional. He rubbed his nose and turned around, still looking over his shoulder with disbelief but also hope, there was nothing he could do right now because his attendance was needed with the Empress but he could still call up the person he felt he could trust with this matter before he left, maybe he could be of service and figure out what had happened. He hoped that the grave hadn't been robbed, after Lelouch's death there was an upraise in violence and demonstrations, people even now ran out of their houses every night to celebrate his death and burn whatever possessions they could link to the man they called the Devil, every night they burned portraits and pictures, newspapers and flags. He understood their anger and ignored how they despised the so called Emperor and loyal Knights, because he was one of them. But those things didn't matter now.

He walked down the dirt road and walked back to the car that stood waiting for him, the former Prince Schneizel walked out and ran up to him with an umbrella. He said nothing and merely continued walking before sitting down in the back seat. He watched as the former Prince settled down in the driver's seat and waited for his order, this was also a large change: the man sitting there was now his servant, it was one of the things Lelouch did for him, though he never quite understood why he had given out such an order.

"Drive..."

He simply said and pulled back his hood revealing his unchanged brown hair and green eyes, however they had changed and had lost their glamour, they were now cold and heartless and sick of bloodshed. His hand reached into his pocket again and he searched through his contacts, the person he was looking for should be in the list and if not he still knew someone else that might be able to help him out, part of him hoped that Lelouch was alive but another worried that with living he had sealed his existence as a never ceasing target to everything he had done in the past, the people wouldn't understand him no matter what he told them. He looked out of the window as the car continued on, he could see lights in the distance of a nearby village, the Japanese were celebrating he noted but couldn't help and mock their stupidity. Raising his phone to his ear he waited for it to be picked up on the other side.

* * *

It was only after he got out that he started to question his surroundings, only then did those details matter to him because before this was visible to him his hands had slammed against the wooden structure with such force that it made his knuckles bleed, but it was all fair for the sake of his survival. He hated the dark space he was born in and the eerie silence made him all the more afraid, his fists continued to slam as this fear clung to him, fuelling his hands with adrenaline as they broke through the wood and now dug into the ground trashing down at him. His hands rubbed his shoulders at the mere thought of that event and he started to shake unwillingly as a result of those memories. He stopped walking and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath, but he only realised that by closing his eyes he would be confronted by darkness once again and thus he opened them again as if he was about to lose his grip on this steady plane, as if he was about to fall down and be swallowed by another dark box.

With his breath still haze he looked around but there was nothing to help him, he knew nothing: no name, no place and most importantly no reason. The first thing he remembered seeing was darkness and the first sounds he heard were whispers of an unknown kind and due to their misunderstanding did they only frighten him more. The rain dropped down on him, it wasn't much it was merely the start of what was to come. The blood covered hands still clung to his shoulders as he felt these cold tears fall down on him. It was unreal and he opened the palm of his hands in front of him and watched as the rain dropped down on the dirt that covered them, slowly they washed away each piece of sand and he realised that underneath there was be a soft, pale taint of skin.

"Rain..."

He whispered out without realisation to why he knew the word, his face merely tilted as the drops combined and streamed over his skin to fall off his hand and to meet with the floor.

"Pluie... Pluvia..."

He then added and continued this line of words with whatever came first on his mind, unknowingly he spoke in languages he didn't understand but he knew that these words had one meaning, and that was rain. He studied it as if it were the first thing his eyes had set sight on after he was born. He looked up and felt the rain stinging his eyes, he didn't close them because he was still afraid that the world would swallow him up from underneath and merely listened as the drops fell down around him, every leaf and every puddle gave out a distinguished and identical sound and he looked down when he saw something else in the distance. Far away from him a light passed over the horizon, a vehicle drove down the road and he watched the light pass through the darkness in wonder. He then noticed more lights in the distance and slowly he strode down the muddy road into their direction.

He nearly stumbled along the way, his legs felt heavy because of the extra gained weight of his soaked clothing, the robe that was previously white but now darkish brown clung to his body and made moving all the more difficult. When he reached the main road the rain seemed to have stopped and with that he looked up, as if he had expected that it to ever fall on him at all times. His eyes widened when he saw something in the sky, a round full moon of sort hidden behind the clouds but still being visible for the naked eye because its glow penetrated the thin clouds that covered it. It is a sign a rebirth, a part of him said and he turned his gaze back to the road that led into what seemed to be a small village consisting of only a few houses. He continued walking and looked around as he did, his eyes passing over every bit of detail as he came along the way, he heard crickets chirp in the fields and saw lights of fireflies pass through the long grass. A dog barked at him as he came closer to the village, the animal showed its teeth and let out a low growl, he gazed at it but continued walking when it started to bite in air.

"It will bite you..."

He whispered and with half open eyes continued his way through the small cottages, several still had lights burning inside them and there was something going on in the street ahead of him. There was a small pile of possessions being burned and a door next to him slammed open, he watched as drunken men stumbled out of the building which was in fact a bar and who then continued to scream up to the sky with a tone he could describe as joy however their words contained curses.

"Death to the demon King!"

"Hail Zero!"

Glass was thrown on the ground and the pile of possessions increased in size as if it were some kind of offering to a God. People passed him from behind and pushed him aside but he remained quiet and observed as if he wasn't exactly sure what was happening around him.

"People..."

He whispered out as they danced and drank in the streets, strange behaviour and stupid.

"Lelouch vi Britannia, I hope you are burning in hell right now!"

"Lelouch..."

The name sounded familiar but his concentration was broken when something was thrown on the ground in front of him, for a second he could see something that he could best describe as a déjà vu. A foot stepped on what seemed a framed picture and he heard the glass underneath crack, with it the urge for investigation increased as this feeling of déjà vu continued to claim what was left of his consciousness and he knelt down to grab this item, his hand pushing away the leg that was stomping on this person's paper face.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

He ignored the stare he received and pulled the item closer to see what was on it. His heart however felt as if it was to break when he stared at the person smiling back at him from that paper page. Looking up he realised that they were burning similar items, he saw newspapers with the headlines printed out saying that the Emperor was dead and that the tyranny was now over. He watched as a familiar face burned to ashes.

"That face..."

He gasped out. The man they proclaimed as the devil King, the one they burned and drank for to celebrate his death as if it was a blessing, that man was him. He remembered his face now, the face of the devil was his.

"Are you still following his rule or something, bastard! Hand over the frame!"

A foot pushed against his shoulder and he fell back, the picture fell down on the ground next to him exposing the portrait of the 99th Emperor. He looked at the man in front of him and noticed how he had gone quiet, the bottle in his hand dropped to the ground and what left of the liquor was inside now spilled out to sink into the Earth.

"Impossible..."

He whispered out and stepped back, several others now heard his pleading voice and looked at him as well.

"A demon, it's a demon!"

One yelled and now the entire street had gone quiet, no celebrating voices that sung and yelled at the sky instead they watched him and looked as if the devil himself had appeared before them. He tried to avoid their gaze but it was making him nervous, he looked at the picture frame that lay on the ground next to him and his hand rose up to grab it. However before he could even touch it he felt something against his head, he nearly fell flat against the ground when something hit him and with his head leaned forward he could feel something dripping down onto the robe he wore and he raised his hand to the left side of his head. Liquid dripped down between his fingers much like the rain had done before and when he pulled his hand back he saw an ominous dark colour covering it, it was dark outside but from its taint he knew that this was blood.

"Get out!"

"Go back to the hell you came from!"

He yelped when more rocks were thrown to him and shielded his face with his arms to prevent them from hitting his head and face. However the rocks continued to hit him and were soon joined by bottles and glasses. A piece of glass broke against his arms and he pressed his eyes shut when he felt the glass pieces fly around him, several of them cut through his skin and as more items were thrown the more he curled up to protect himself.

"Stop..."

He whispered out in a sob, but the throwing and curses didn't stop. A moment before this he had crawled out of the ground asking for life and this is what was given to him. These people hated him, but what had he done to receive such payment? He just wanted to live, he just wanted to see..

"...Suzaku"

The voice came in a whisper, a soft cry for help. He didn't know who this person was, he didn't know why he was calling his name, all he knew was that he wanted to be with Suzaku. Suzaku was some place safe, some place kind and some place loving. He wanted to see Suzaku.

"Not so tough now are you!"

His eyes widened when he felt a hand around his wrist and he was hauled aside by the man who grabbed him. His voice remained stuck in his throat and his breaths were filled with fear as the unknown person raised his other arm. The man had raised his weapon and he knew what was to come, the old piece of wood would hit him and hurt him, they would kill him. He didn't want to die, he had to see Suzaku.

"No..."

The courage to speak had returned but was again only a soft whimper claimed by fear and anxiety. He looked at the man's eyes and saw rage in them, nothing but blind rage. He couldn't die here, he had to find Suzaku. Suzaku. The arm started to lower and was about to hit him.

"No!"

He yelled out and automatically his still lose hand grabbed the fabric against his heart. Pain throbbed through that area as soon as his voice gained the courage to yell out, to yell out to whatever was safe and to whatever was dangerous. Unknowing the mark against his skin glowed up and a thin line of light surrounded him, casting shadows over the dirty streets. Screams erupted from them and he gasped for air, now both his hands clung to the fabric, pushed against the warm spot on his chest as those around him fell and squirmed in whatever terror was brought to them. The screams seemed familiar and in the midst of them did he see something, a blade in the darkness had stepped forward to him and when the tip barely touched his skin did he open his eyes again.

"_That's right, he killed me..."_

"What...?"

The screams had ceased, there were no sounds in the street and then suddenly the rain started again in a heavy fall. He remained still and observed the street before him in fright, the bodies were unmoving and lay scattered from each other, the bonfire slowly vanished as its flames died out in the falling rain and when he saw a hand of one of the villagers move did he decide that it was best for him to get out while he still could.

He got up from the floor, his right hand still clutching his uniform as he swayed and with one last glance did he walk away. The dog that had once barked at him was now silent as the grave and even yelped when he passed, the creature was now afraid of him and he couldn't disagree with him more. The face he carried scared the people around him and leads them to believing that he was better of dead, this face shouldn't be seen to anyone if he wanted to life and he wanted that. He wanted to life, he had to find Suzaku. Suzaku was the place where he could find his answers.

"Suzaku..."

He whispered again as he passed through the woods outside the village, the rain was still trashing down and exhaustion caught up with him, with that last word still echoing in his head he collapsed into the mud and remained there.

* * *

After the death of the Emperor the world had changed, she hadn't witnessed it first hand but as many she could clearly see what was happening around her. People's fears had disappeared and hope had returned. She had not yet seen the changes in the world, her caretaker had told her that the world was still too dangerous for her because she was once an enemy against those who opposed it. She walked around the house with a small lantern in her hands, she didn't care much about todays world because she had other things to think of and by those she meant the memories that had once been sealed within her, subconsciously they had always been there telling her that the world was a lie and now she was free, however the memory of blood still remained and every now and then she would wake up like she had now, afraid that a bad man would come by to do this to her again. Her hand pushed back a strain of hair, it was hanging loosely around her shoulders now as well as the nightgown she wore and it chilled her legs. There was a door at the end of the hall, there was light coming out from under it and she pushed it open.

"Good evening..."

A gentleman's voice said as she walked in, she set the lantern on the table and then turned to face him.

"Jeremiah..."

She mumbled out and the man, who was sitting near the dining table now turned to her, his outfit was still the same one wore when he worked this afternoon and she saw a bottle of wine standing on the table as well as a filled glass. This man never seemed to sleep in her opinion, at night he merely drank and it had always seemed that he was waiting for something.

"Couldn't sleep?"

He asked as she sat down on the other side of the table, he eyes fell on a small basket of oranges neatly standing on the other side of the table on display, as a sign of their triumph for this year's good harvest.

"I had a bad dream..."

She simply said as Jeremiah got up from his seat and seconds later he returned with a glass of milk, he set it in front of her and noticed how the young girl stared at his wine.

"The underage shouldn't even think of drinking. That still includes you"

A small hmpf escaped her lips and she took the glass of milk. The two remained quiet and she slowly drank from the glass.

"Why do you stay up this long?"

She then asked him and he laughed at her question, it made her all the more confused.

"I'm waiting for a miracle..."

"Miracle?"

"If you pray hard enough then maybe God will answer you, however in this world there is no God and all I can do is wait and hope that this wish will be fulfilled. Even if it is all a lie"

She watched him as he spoke highly. She didn't understand him at all, what miracle would he want? There is nothing in this world left to wish for because their wish had already been fulfilled, Jeremiah had told her himself, the people wished for a tomorrow and they were given it, it was the last wish created perhaps by God himself. Her eyes lingered to the coverage over his left eye and with that she felt regret, it was rude to stare at it and she drank from her milk again. At night Jeremiah always spoke highly as if he was talking to some ghost from the past.

"Goodnight..."

She mumbled as she got up from her chair, he returned a same comment and waited for her to leave but she didn't. At the door Anya turned around and bowed deeply for him, Jeremiah was left confused by this and listened as she spoke to him.

"I want to show you my gratitude for doing this for me, you don't me at all"

With this a smile crossed his features and he sighed.

"Thank you for saving me, for showing me who I was"

"Save you gratitude, Anya"

"Thank you..."

She finally added and left the room, Jeremiah sighed again and raised the glass to his lips, but when he was about to drink his phone, that was lying on the table as well, started to ring. He put the glass back on the table and silently wondered why someone would be calling him at this time, but at the sight of the number displayed on the screen he flipped it open and answered the call. He said nothing when he picked up and merely waited for a reply from the other side.

_"It's me..."_

He instantly recognised the voice and upon hearing it he sat up straight to listen with his full attention.

"It seems, why are you calling?"

He said in a carefree tone, he knew the person on the other side and by that he didn't mean Zero. His Highness, the person he still vowed to serve even after his death had told him that time.

"_Jeremiah, tomorrow someone will kill me... don't get in the way"_

He was told that it was for a new tomorrow and he instantly understood what he meant by it, he didn't ask questions though he couldn't help but slip one out at that time because the death of his master meant the death of him as well. The next day he finally understood and when he saw this posing figure of Zero before him he instantly knew who it was, it was Kururugi Suzaku and he was picking up the mantle of this messiah who could perform miracles and who didn't need geass and now the same person was calling him in the middle of the night with a number that once belonged to the Emperor himself, he hadn't expected less from Lelouch.

_"Something is wrong..."_

These words however discarded the carefree tone his voice once carried and one hand now covered his mouth as well as the lower half of the phone, as if someone was nearby listening in on their conversation.

"What do you mean?"

_"The grave, I went there today. It's empty..."_

He gasped and the glass nearly fell over when his knees kicked up against the table.

"Was it robbed?!"

_"Impossible, it is impossible for people to know that location let alone the corpse inside"_

There was silence then and Jeremiah started to think through any possible scenario he could come up with, but all of them were nothing more but nonsense and ridicule until he thought of one other possibility but that one seemed impossible to begin with.

_"I have to leave with Nunnally, I was hoping if you could-"_

"I will leave as soon as possible, at what time did you visit the grave?"

_"Around 1 I think... Could be later"_

Another night owl, he thought before breaking the connection. Kururugi Suzaku was having a hard time much like himself. Perhaps his wish had been granted, perhaps things had changed for the worst. His last thoughts lingered to his master's final moments and he couldn't help but feel sad for the man now labelled Zero, but perhaps this way his pain could be eased but only if he was indeed correct about what was happening.

* * *

Even after his deaths he could still feel him. When she saw his face again after all those long years she hadn't realised how much older he had become, only now did she wonder about those things and only now did she regret not touching his skin, after regaining her sight she found that she had forgotten his touch, the memory of his hands had passed and it left her with regret. She wondered what her brother was doing now, if he was happy and perhaps with Euphemia looking down at her and being proud of what she had accomplished, she knew that this could've never been possible without the help of Suzaku. Only after it actually happened did she realise what his plan was, her brother was smart and this plan was one that not even she could foresee until it was too late. He had done this for her but with it had ruined her life, how could he be so selfish to think that she would want to be alone, she couldn't do this without her brother even with Suzaku at her side she couldn't do this properly. She was too weak and too afraid, she wasn't as smart as her brother was and had even pleaded Cornelia to take over this heir because she was certain that her older sister would be able to do a much better job, however she refused and she was still left with this hole in her heart and crown on her head. She opened her eyes when she felt someone take her hand, she watched and noticed someone sitting next to her bed on a chair and by his touch she knew who this person was.

"I'm sorry, your Highness"

He said and she could sense despair in his voice, had something happened?

"Suzaku..."

"Don't call me that"

He told her in a cold tone and she was caught back by the anger that spouted from his voice, the hand caressed hers as a sign of apology and he said again.

"I'm sorry for waking you..."

She couldn't see his face, in fact she had never seen it even after she had regained her sight. The only face Suzaku had was that of Zero and it saddened her that he didn't have enough fait in her to show her what he looked like.

"Can I see you face...?"

She asked in a sad tone and the hand over hers released its grip, Suzaku stood up from the bed and walked to the door while saying.

"Not today..."

The same answer he always gave whenever she asked him this and she did it daily whenever they were alone, she still called him Suzaku even if he told her not to. She wanted to show him that he wasn't alone, because she too carried the burden of her brother and she was perhaps the only person that could comfort him in this time.

* * *

Schneizel waited for him in the hallway and when he returned he showed him to his room, Suzaku said nothing during the long walk and when the door was opened for him he walked inside without saying a word to his servant.

"I will wake you at 6, master"

Schneizel even bowed to him but he slammed the door shut in anger. Anger still gripped his heart from seeing the empty grave as well as sadness and he threw his clothing to the other side of the room in fit of rage. In regret he walked back to the discarded clothing and grabbed his cell phone from one of the pockets, he wanted it by his side just in case someone called, and by that he revered to someone important to him.

_"Why would I call if I'm right here?"_

He head turned and sweat dripped down the side of his face when he saw a familiar shadow on the other side of the room. Lelouch vi Britannia stepped out of the shadows and smiled at him as he reached out to him with a hand.

"Go away, you're just an illusion..."

He said to the mirage who merely smiled in a sinister way before saying.

_"I can show you how real I can be Suzaku"_

His hand waved to a small box lying on the nightstand, he knew what Lelouch was referring to but he couldn't use it again. Always was he making these fake promises to himself and always did he break them. This will be the last time, was what he told himself when he broke down and he simply used it as glue to recreate the strong figure he had to portrait. For the first time he truly felt disgusted with it and because of what happened he didn't feel like using it, though normally he would surely take the chance it was too late now, he could sleep for about 3 hours before Schneizel would wake him for his flight with Nunnally to China where he would meet with several people to discuss further changes to the economy, now with the war over the mass production of Knightmare Frames had stopped and the workload had to put in other sectors that needed better attention and that could improve daily life for those who needed it.

_"Suzaku...?"_

The forgotten shadow called out, nearly pleading for attention.

"I told you didn't I?! Go away!"

He now screamed and a random item was thrown across the room towards this person, but it didn't hit him instead the shadow had vanished and the item broke down in pieces on the floor. Suzaku was left all alone again, he leaned his head forward in his hands and tried to fight back the tears he had felt back when he stood in front of the grave, it was still unbelievable that it was now empty and if he had the time he would look himself but he couldn't, Lelouch had given him this duty and he would not fail, Nunnally needed him after all.

"You selfish bastard..."

He said when he realised that he was fighting a lost battle, the tears came and dropped down on the floor beneath him and like he had said many times before, this would be the last time he would cry for him.


	3. The face of a devil

**Code Geass: ****Requiem**

**Chapter ****02: The face of a devil  
**

**Writer: Karum****A-chan**

**Set after the series finally**

**Don't own**

I'm going crazy with these adds on that have sound in them!

Sorry for the delay, I was hooked to Devil May Cry 4 and now that I finished the game I'm bored again in the evening hours, so tonight I decided to write this for you, enjoy.  
And stupid won't allow me to underline my titles, I hope the sort that out because I don't want to underline it with HTML code

* * *

"_That's right, he killed me..."_

The rain didn't stop for the evening, it continued to pour down on him as he lay there in the mud. His body was cold and was slowly sinking into the wet soil, there wasn't much he could do because he wasn't conscious. There he could see someone, a person that stood far away from him with his back turned to him, he was waiting. Up on the hillside a dog barked and ran forward to the edge, it looked down and spotted the body between the trees and instantly its upper lip curled up, revealing teeth as it snarled. Someone else stepped next to the dog and an elderly hand ticked the dog on its head as if punishing it, it looked up at its owner and yelped softly as it retreated to stand behind its master. In one hand this person carried an umbrella and like the dog did this person notice the body at the bottom of the hill. She smiled, revealing wrinkles in her cheeks.

* * *

There were noises coming from the hallway, her body stirred and she groaned in annoyance before realising that noises could mean danger. Her hand grabbed a kunai which she hid beneath her pillow and in one swift movement she jumped of the bed and opened the bedroom door to the hallway, but upon seeing a familiar face did she lower her weapon and removed her murderous glare.

"Jeremiah-san, what are you doing at this hour?"

She asked and the man in front of her turned to her, she noticed the serious expression on his face and feared that something was amiss.

"I have to leave for a while... Sorry for waking you up"

"Leave? Whereto and for how long?"

She placed the kunai on one of the drawers in the wooden hallway when Jeremiah turned and entered another room, she followed him and stood in the doorway as she observed his actions. There was one suitcase on the bed and it was partly filled with clothing, he turned to place more things in this trunk and amongst them was a laptop.

"Something's going on, I don't know how long I'll be gone..."

With that mention her eyes widened and she was reminded of the actions her previous master had completed, although she had been in prison at the time she knew deep inside that it had to involve him. Since she only knew little of geass could she only assume that it involved him, why else would Jeremiah leave in the middle of the night, he as well served him and he served him still even after his death.

"Did Suzaku call? Is this about 'him'?"

She asked with a serious tone as he closed the suitcase.

"Maybe..."

"I'm coming"

"No, you have to stay here"

A cold answer but she remained content, if Jeremiah didn't want her to tag along then it was best to follow his orders, but if this did involve Lelouch then she wanted to be there.

"I don't want you getting hurt, sorry Sayako"

She moved aside as he passed her, suitcase in his hand as he walked to the front door. Sayako was about to follow him when both she and Jeremiah noticed that another bedroom door had opened, Anya was now looking at him with a stern expression and before he was able to say anything she said.

"I'm going..."

"Anya, you can't leave. What if they recognise you, you will be arrested!"

The former maid said to her but the girl was already dressed and she noticed that she as well had been packing. Sayako looked at Jeremiah in hope that he could stop her from leaving, but he merely smiled and probably already knew that nothing could make her stay here.

"I want to see what it is like outside this farm, I want to see your miracle..."

She added and closed her bedroom door, Sayako sighed as she now too realised that nothing could stop the curious girl and watched how she walked up to Jeremiah's side. She smiled at the two and nodded.

"Please be safe, don't do anything stupid..."

She said and bid them farewell, Anya bowed in return and went to get her coat.

"Please bring him back..."

She then added as she stood up straight again, there were tears in her eyes and a hand was placed on her shoulder. Jeremiah smiled as she whipped the tears from her eyes.

"Please..."

"I will, you know I will"

She then watched from the doorway as the two drove off in one of the pickup trucks. When she had first heard about Lelouch's death she was extremely saddened. She had spent years with the two siblings, hiding with them from the Britannian family. Always had she known that the two could never be happy, Nunnally perhaps because she had her limitations but Lelouch certainly not. To lie about your identity and to live in fear that you might be assassinated, it was harsh world. Never had she seen him complain but secretly she had always wished happiness to him. She laughed as she remembered all the little things back then, back when she thought that he was cross-dressing or when she realised how close Lelouch was to Suzaku, she remembered how shocked she was when she started realising that they were more than just friends, she realised that he might be able to bring him happiness but when she saw how different they were did she realise yet again that the former Prince could never be really happy. She had known of his identity as Zero and still served him, she remembered how angry Rolo was at her when she became out of character while she was in disguise and how annoyed Lelouch looked when she gave him his date schedule. But those things were in the past, she now lived on an orange farm with both Jeremiah and Anya and he had told her about his wish, she secretly wished the same. She wished that Lelouch could be happy for once, perhaps in the afterlife or in his next life she wanted him to be truly happy.

* * *

"So what I wanted to propose is this..."

Nunnally watched as the young Empress of China struggled with her written lines, her personal guard Li Xingke bend over and helped her when she lost her line. At the moment she was reading lines from a long list of subjects she wanted changed in her country as well as in Britannia and Japan, the list consisted of rules she and her council had thought of that could improve the economy and could help people instead of destroying them. The production of Knightmare Frames should be focused more on frames that could help rebuild their destroyed cities and that could help in the food sector, which was also their original intend before Britannia started to upgrade them to war machines. Nunnally, as well as many others listened to the young girl, even when she struggled to get her words right, Nunnally knew that it was hard being an Empress and since Tian-zi was younger than she was she could only imagine the weight on her shoulders, but no one commented her about it, because they knew how strong the little girl was and how she was the most righteous amongst them all to fulfil this job, with her guardian by her side she could do anything.

Her eyes wandered to Suzaku who stood on the other end of the room as a guard, his hands behind his back although they weren't visible through the cape. She studied his mask from a distance, whenever he was with her in private he wore it but she never looked at it because she was too busy worrying about him. Her brother had worn the same mask for a long time and with that thought pity entered her heart when she remembered that he wore it for her, to make the world a better place for her.

"Onii-sama..."

She whispered and looked down at her hands, she craved for his touch again, the touch she had forgotten. Looking up she realised that Suzaku was watching her and upon eye contact did he turn to Tian-zi again. She wondered if anything had happened, if he was alright. Early in the morning his voice sounded so sad and he hadn't said a word to her beside sentences he said because of his duty, she wondered how long it would take before he could actually talk to her like he could before, had his heart really died along with her brother?

She watched as he suddenly turned and left the room, Suzaku never left her side and she found it strange that he now walked through the door to the hallway. An ominous feeling inside her told her that something must have happened, Suzaku had her worried for several days now and now it seemed to be worse. She worried for him but remained to attend the meeting, maybe afterwards could she talk to him.

* * *

The entire meeting had been suffocating, or so he described it. The longer he remained in their presence the more paranoid he became, his body felt warm and his hands shook against his will because he didn't give in to his addiction the night before, instead his mind remained focussed on what he had seen the night before. The nameless tombstone, the dug up dirt and white flowers covered with mud, he didn't want to be here, he wanted to be out there where he could look for him if he was even around and if this was a joke then he could at leased hunt down those who caused it and murder them.

"Your hand is shaking, did you get enough sleep?"

Nunnally had asked him when they boarded the plane, of course he didn't sleep well, he hadn't slept peacefully since that day. The mask he wore, the sword he had carried back then, he still had it he didn't know why but he had never thrown it out. His hands still remembered the touch of the hilt, he had never touched it since that day but his hands still remembered and thinking of that sword made them shake all the more. He passed the guards that stood outside the room, none of them dared to question his actions, they trusted him because he had ended the crisis in the world and as he past through the hallways to look for an excluded area where he could be alone he thought of their stupidity. One alone he leaned against the wall and tried to calm himself down, his breathing had been laboured for a while now because of the worries that plagued his heart, his shaking hand dug in his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, still no call from Jeremiah which could only mean that something bad must have happened.

"Damned..."

He cursed as he tried to dial his number, his hand was shaking so badly that his fingers slipped over the wrong button, tonight he had to use it and with that he noticed how addicted he had become to that drug. The phantom Lelouch had not come out yet to haunt him, but then again he only gave into those when he was alone and because he denied them during the day the phantom never seemed to show himself, this was why he called him phantom Lelouch because he only came out at night like a ghost. He wondered how long it would take before Nunnally would find out, but he threw that thought away when he finally managed to dial Jeremiah's number and looked from left to right before entering one of the side rooms in the hallway, locking the door behind him before he removed his mask and took a deep breath. Sweat had formed itself on his forehead and the black cloth that covered his mouth and nose stuck to his skin as he pulled it down, he inhaled deeply and welcomed the fresh air. He pressed the phone against his ear and waited, the slow beep continued to echo in his ear and he leaned against the wall because it was taking so long. Sighing he realised that he the phone wouldn't be answered and cut the connection, he frowned deeply as he put the phone back in his pocket and pulled the cloth back over his mouth and nose. Nunnally would probably wonder where he went, he should go back.

* * *

Someone was standing there. There was someone standing up ahead of him, a person. He watched from a distance, this man had his back turned to him and was sitting on the ground, as if waiting for something to pass him. He wasn't able to see his face but something about this man made his heart ache.

"_Just like before..."_

He whispered and his hand passed over the left side of his chest, with the blink of an eye could he see blood on his hands that in the next second was missing from his fingertips. He raised his hand again but saw that there was nothing wrong with him. Looking forward again he watched the silent man and he felt unsure of himself.

"_Who are you?"_

He yelled out but there was no answer the figure didn't even move when he called for him and he tried to step forward to walk up to him, to perhaps see his face but then something made him realise that it was a bad idea and he stopped.

"_If he sees my face... the face of a devil"_

He whispered to himself and was afraid to expose himself any further. What if this man would try to hurt him? He remembered the rain, the villagers and the screams. A hand passed over his mouth and he coughed, his body felt weird just thinking about it and slowly he bend down to rest on his knees as he tried to calm himself down.

"_Suzaku..."_

He whimpered out and his eyes snapped open when he felt tears rolling out of them to hit on the dark surface beneath him. Still he had no idea of who this person was but the words meant something to him, was Suzaku the place where he could find his answers?

"_Suzaku..."_

He whispered again and his eyes slowly closed, the eyelids grew heavy and he turned to lie on his back as he felt himself drift further away from where he was. The next event he could only describe as strange, it was as if he had drifted in a deep sleep and was now waking up, his body felt heavy yet warm and slowly he opened his eyes, he blinked several times to adjust to the lighting before realising that he was staring at a wooden ceiling.

"Where...?"

He mumbled and turned his head to look at the rest of the room, he was lying on a futon in what seemed to be a storage room of some sort. The walls were filled with various masks, from frog masks to foxes and from demon faces to cute cats. Several crates stood on one end as well as a bookcase, the bottom planks were filled with boxes the middle pots and brushes while the top planks were again filled with masks. As he looked around he suddenly heard the door on the other end closing with force, he head turned to see if anyone was there but he saw no one.

After a while he finally found the courage to sit up, his body was still tired and when he pushed the heavy blankets back he noticed that his chest had been bandaged as well as his left shoulder, a hand passed over his chest but he felt no pain, nevertheless he didn't remove the bandages and instead wondered where he was.

The hallway was empty, carefully had he slid open the paper door to see if anyone was there, someone had been there he was certain of it. Carefully he walked down the hallway, his bare feet passing over the wooden floor, his heels stepping on the cloth of his sweatpants and he raised his hands to rub his arms because it was slightly colder out here in the hallway. He continued walking until he saw something against the wall next to him, it was a mirror and for the first time did he actually see what his face looked like. Black hair, violet eyes, he really looked like that man didn't he. Even without knowing what he looked like had he recognized himself in the picture, he found it strange but also disturbing because he couldn't recall being a tyrant or brute, he couldn't remember anything. As he looked in the mirror he remembered that showing his face could be dangerous and turned to walk back when he figured that if this person had been like the villagers from before that he wouldn't help him and bandage his wounds, perhaps this person knew him? He turned when he heard footsteps behind him, as if someone was running down the hallway but when he looked there was no one there. He continued walking until he heard the sound of a radio coming from a room on the other end of the hallway, he couldn't see if someone was inside because the sliding doors had been shut but he carefully opened them after pulling through his hesitation with courage and heat washed over him. This room was much warmer than the hallway and the room he woke up. He looked around and saw a woman sitting on the other end of the room, the dog by her side growled in a low tone and looked up at him. The German shepherd remained seated next to the woman and his eyes turned to her, her hair was grey and short and her eyes seemed distant, she was sitting on an easy chair with a thick blanket over her lap.

"Calm down, Nori... He's not going to hurt you"

The dog whined in annoyance and placed its head back on the wooden floor. Lelouch looked at the ground, his hand didn't leave the doorpost in case he had to leave the room.

"Sorry for intruding..."

He said in a quiet and polite tone and bowed to her, he didn't know why but he found it appropriate to do this.

"Shut the door, it's getting cold in here. Sit down"

The elder woman commanded and he closed the door, walking forward he sat down on one of the pillow surrounding the low saloon table in the middle and there he remained silent as he waited for any comments or questions, when nothing was said he looked at her again and saw that her eyes were still staring off in the same direction as before, he followed her gaze but found nothing interesting to look at and wondered what this woman was doing, the dog that was lying next to her still looked at him and didn't break eye contact.

"There..."

She finally said and closed the book that was lying on her lap before putting it on a table next to her chair.

"Sorry, I just had to finish this chapter. Some books can get so addicting after all..."

"You were reading it? But how?!"

He quickly went silent and apologized for commenting, the woman smiled at him and finally looked him in the eyes, only then did he realise that she was blind, the lens over her iris and pupil had turned white. She must have been reading with her hands.

"How are you feeling...?"

She asked him and gently smiled at him as she placed her hands on her lap and now gave him her full attention. Lelouch didn't know what to say, he still mistrusted this situation but she waited calmly for his answer.

"My body feels heavy..."

"It has reason to feel like this, Nori found you passed out during the storm of last night. You've slept for an entire day"

"I'm sorry..."

"For what...?"

"I'm sorry for being a burden to your household"

They both remained silent until he heard rumbling from the door he had come in from, he looked at the light yellow paper decorated with cranes and wondered who this person was, the woman however sighed and said in a somewhat louder tone.

"Misaki, you can come in now. No use hiding from me..."

He could hear curses coming from the other side of the door and it opened again, a young boy walked in of around 10 years old and as he walked inside he looked at him with an angry look. He didn't know what to think of it.

"How did you hear me, I was being really careful this time"

He complained before sitting down on the other end of the table, Lelouch looked at him and studied him from a distance. The boy was young, brown eyes and light brown hair that was short yet curly, he could see freckles on his face but before he could look any further was he given a glare and the child stuck his tongue out towards him, he became instantly annoyed but ignored this Misaki person and turned his gaze back to the woman in front of him.

"This here is Misaki, he's my pupil"

"Pupil?"

He asked curiously.

"I paint masks, it's a family tradition and has been in our family for centuries. We paint masks and travel from festival to festival to sell them"

He then noticed how this room as well had several masks hanging from the walls, they were indeed painted but some of them looked like masterpieces, one of them looked different from the others though, it wasn't a mask that could cover a whole face, it was made to cover someone's eyes. Dark glass covered areas that covered a person's eyes and the model looked like two wings bound together at the nose and spreading to fit around a person's face to the side of their head, the mask carried a solid white surface and the edges of the dark lenses as well as the mask edges were finished with gold.

"Misaki, make some tea for our guest and get him something to eat, he must be starving"

"There is no need to, I can leave if-"

"And where would you go?"

He went quiet at that comment. He didn't know where he'd go, he didn't remember having a home or place where he could stay. He only remembered a name, Suzaku. But it was still unclear to him what it meant.

"You can stay as long as you mind, as long as you don't make trouble"

"Is it alright?"

He asked her and again she smiled gently.

"Of course, now Misaki..."

"I know, I know... I'm going!"

The child stood up from his seat and walked to the door with heavy steps, he slammed the door shut behind him as he continued down the hallway, cursing and badmouthing this so called new guest as he went. Lelouch watched and listened as he continued.

"Don't worry, he's a good child"

"I'm sorry for being such a bother..."

"Stop apologizing, it will do you no good"

Another awkward silence and he looked down at his hands, he hated these moments.

* * *

When dusk came he returned to his room, it came soon because he woke up late in the afternoon and fall made certain that dusk came early as it prepared the world for winter. He felt bored and estranged by everything around him, he had eaten in silence while the old lady began reading her book and the annoying child Misaki left the room to walk Nori and hadn't come back since. He failed to ask her any questions about his current situation but deep down he remembered how the world looked like, or how he thought the world looked like because it had now changed which he assumed because the tyrant Emperor was proclaimed dead, he was weary about his situation, he didn't want to ask too many questions to have her wonder about him. She probably acts this way because she can't see his face, but that child Misaki could and perhaps he was merely following his master's orders to remain polite in whatever way that may be. He wanted to ask her so many things, he wanted to know who this person was and perhaps then he might know more of himself as well, perhaps then he could figure out what Suzaku meant. He walked up and down the small storage room and looked at the various masks hanging on the wall, his finger passed over one of them and he was surprised to see that there was no dust covering the porcelain art piece, with step he found his mind fixated on that name again and partly felt himself in a daze because of it, his hand passed over the bandages around his torso and placed itself flat against his heart where he could feel it thumbing, whenever he thought of that name it seemed that it thumbed a little harder. He was however snapped out of the trance when mentally a sword tip appeared out of the darkness, it moved forward but when the door opened it vanished. He was shocked at the sudden appearance and disappearance of this illusion but still turned to the doorway and saw Misaki walking inside with clothes, he placed them on one of the crates before grabbing a bottle which was lying on top.

"Sensei says that it will help you sleep"

He said in a much calmer tone but when he saw that Lelouch was looking at the masks he became instantly angered.

"Don't touch the masks!"

He yelled as if insulted by him just standing there.

"You better do some chores while you're here, I don't like leeches!"

The confused man became annoyed by this behaviour but the boy left before he could do anything, the door slammed shut and footsteps could be heard moving away from him. He sighed and walked to crate where clothing lay, however it was not the clothing he wore before and that was obvious to him. He reached out to the bottle on top but was unable to finish his move when a throbbing pain filled his chest, he gasped and a hand pressed against the bandages as he fell down to one knee. As quick as it came the pain had now left and the was slowly fading, his breathing was fast and short and sweat had formed on his forehead, he had seen that sword again when he fell down on his knee, he was certain that he had seen it.

* * *

As he walked down the hallway to meet up with the Empress he checked his phone again, he had the ringtone set on vibrating and even when knowing that he hadn't received any calls did he still look just to be certain, but he was only face with disappointment when he saw that he had received no incoming calls. Placing the phone back in his pocket he continued on his way and walked into the Empress her bedroom, Nunnally turned her wheelchair to him as he entered her expression was that of worry and he knew why he was summoned.

"Suzaku..."

"Please don't call me that, your Highness"

He wasn't in the mood to hear how she worried for him, his hands were still shaking and his mind was still set on getting a hold of Jeremiah.

"Please, take off that mask"

"I can't, you know that"

She lowered her gaze in disappointment and turned to mend the flowers that stood next to her. Every time they were alone she would call him by that name again and she would then ask him to remove his mask, I couldn't let Nunnally see him. He didn't want her to see what the world had done to him and what toll this duty had on him, he didn't want her to see the face that had killed so many because she was too fair of a maiden to witness it even if she had done the same.

"Why did you leave today? Was there something wrong?"

She asked him and looked at him with her violet blue eyes, he still had to get used to her now that she had gained her sight. It became more difficult to control his emotions around her, but the mask covered that up for him.

"It was nothing, I was distracted"

"You've been distracted ever since last night, please tell me what happened that made you so upset"

"Nunnally..."

"I want to help you Suzaku, can't you see that the only person you have left is me! I know you are still lost in grief but please, talk to me!"

She pleaded him and he could see tears in her eyes, his pain was affecting her but there was nothing he could do about it. After all this was his burden to bare, not hers. He turned to leave.

"I'm going..."

"Suzaku!"

He stopped at the door and turned to her one last time, he felt no sadness, pity or regret towards her because she was his Empress now and she had to be strong no matter what happened around her.

"One day, when everything is in place I will show you my face. But now I can't, sorry Nunnally"

With that he had left and now he was alone in yet another unfamiliar bedroom. The mask and coat were removed and lay next to him on the bed together with his mobile phone and once again did he find himself if grief over everything that had happened today and the day before. He looked down at his hands and noticed their steady shake, he turned them to fists but not even that could help now. He turned his gaze to the small box lying on his nightstand, he had time tonight to use it, he had to use it or else he wouldn't survive through the next day.

"One more time..."

He whispered but when his phone started buzzing over the blanket he quickly turned and flipped it open.

"Hello, Jeremiah?"

He blurted out without checking to see if it was indeed him who was calling him, but when a familiar and calm voice answered his cry he felt relief. Jeremiah was probably going to tell him how everything had been a mistake, Lelouch couldn't just have left like that. After all he was dead.

"_Sorry for contacting you at this time, I had to be certain that we could talk alone"_

"Did you see the grave? Did you find the bastards who did it?!"

He became annoyed with the calm tone from the royal guard and got to his feet but sat down when he said the following.

"_Calm down Suzaku, please. I indeed saw the grave and it is strange as you said. I don't want to believe it but when I went to the nearby town to find out if they had seen anything suspicious I witnessed something strange and even now I am still shocked"_

"What did you see?"

"_The night before som__ething seemed to have happened there, nearly half the village came into contact with something that made them pass out of shock, some of them had woken up but they couldn't tell me anything. They kept on murmuring about a demon of sort that had returned to haunt them"_

His eyes widened in shock and he almost lost grip over the phone, he looked down at the ground as he mumbled.

"That can't be true..."

He knew what they meant by demon, he had called Lelouch's power demonic in the past as well. But that couldn't be true, how could that be true?!

"_Suzaku... Answer me, Suzaku!"_

He was snapped out of his thoughts and pressed the device back against his ear.

"Yes?"

"_I want to investigate this further before we start making conclusions. As much as I hate to say it, it sounds too surreal to be true so please don't get any strange ideas"_

Much like Nunnally had done did Jeremiah now plead him, he wasn't planning on doing anything stupid. It would attract too much attention to those around him and if rumours would spread then it would all turn to the worst.

"I'll stay by her majesty's side, don't worry. Call me when you find something"

"_Of course, bye"_

With that he closed his phone and threw it back on the bed, he leaned forward with his head in his hands and took a deep breath. Lelouch couldn't be alive, it was impossible. That would have been his master trick if that had been true. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment only to snap them back open when he felt something cold against his back, a familiar laugh entered his ears and he looked over his shoulder where a pale hand was resting on his tanned skin.

"_Why such a sad face?"_

He laughed short and ironic as he turned to this illusion that sat before him, the phantom placed both hands on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around his neck as he leaned forward.

"_I'll make you feel good again, Suzaku..."_

He whispered in his ear and looked at the box standing on his night table, Suzaku followed his gaze followed his and his shaking hand reminded him that he needed this. He leaned forward and grabbed it from the table.

"One last time..."


	4. How the world remains nothing more but a

**Code Geass: ****Requiem**

**Chapter ****03: How the world remains nothing more but a dream  
**

**Writer: Karum****A-chan**

**Set after the series finally**

**Don't own**

I am sorry for the long wait, I first thought that I would be able to keep up with my writing while staying here in Amsterdam and moving back and forth in the weekends but I had underestimated it and eventually realised that I was greatly over stressed with lack of sleep and workload so I decided to stop for a while to think things over for my stories, come up with new plots (which I did btw) and I am happy to let you know that my internship will be over by the end of this month, so by then I will move back to my home again and live with my family which I miss every day, I miss my dog and mom, ha ha and my dad's cooking though I did manage to cook 3 out of 5 days and unlike my fellow countrymen I cook Chinese and Indonesian food since that is what my old man cooks as well and that is what he taught me to cook by watching. I hope that clears up some issues with people thinking that I might have cancelled the story, which I am not planning to at all. In fact I have some awesome new ideas for it that I am certain you will like.

I won't keep you waiting much longer, go ahead and enjoy the chapter!

Also a thank you to diotima who is translating this fanfiction to Chinese for her blog, I hope they enjoy reading this as much as us English readers!

* * *

Upon falling stars do all people wish. Even if the wish was something unobtainable or humanly not possible do we still wish for things that we cannot receive. Where once a man spoke for the world and wished for a tomorrow were there now people wishing for the happiness this sacrifice never received after he paid its price. One man realises that his made wish might have been granted and that the inhuman turned human once more while another wishes to share the burden of his sins. Another wishes to be strong and courageous to fulfil someone else's wish while another wanders around like a fallen star without any received wishes. All people wish for something, even if their hearts may not yet know what it is that they seek.

The man who now witnessed how his wish had become reality stared with shocked eyes at the proof before him. Jeremiah Gottwald bends to his knees and with his hands he digs into the brown soil, pushing it aside until he is confronted by wood. The coffin was still in the grave and the hatch had been broken open, the more he looked at it the more he realised that it was broken open from the inside. His eyes narrowed as he rose to his feet. Kicking and shuffling he moved the dirt back over the grave to hide the destroyed coffin and walked away.

* * *

Their talking caught her attention and the young pink haired girl who often came to this palace to play and take piano lessons watched as talk turned to gunfire and how gunfire turned to blood. She gasps as the tall figure before her falls back against the stone stairway. Too afraid to say words she merely hides where she is, her mouth unmoving but the tears that roll down her cheeks give a meaning to this unspoken fear and it was then that those eyes turned and saw her. Those were the eyes of someone dying and the live was slowly being drained from her. She remained still but with every passing moment she could feel a connection to this woman and slowly she felt as if she was losing grip over herself, slowly her surroundings became darker and they tried to lock her out.

Her eyes snapped open when a hand shook her shoulders and the now older girl looked at the man standing beside her. He stood with one hand against the open door of the truck as the other removed itself from her shoulder. Anya looks around and notices how the sun was already up, she must have dozed off when they were driving. Still confused of her whereabouts she first looked around, the truck was standing at the side of the road and up ahead she saw houses of a nearby village.

"Jeremiah, where are...?"

"We're there"

Jeremiah said and the girl nodded at him. She wondered if he would show her the grave he had been talking about before she dozed off but by the sight of dirt on his gloves does she realise that he had already gone there. She got out of the vehicle to get some air and noticed that Jeremiah was now walking towards the buildings in the distance.

"Where are we going?"

She asked him as she ran up to his side, his expression was stern which could only mean that something bad had happened while she was asleep. She remembered only bits and pieces from their conservation while Jeremiah drove away from the farm, the girl had been tired and had dozed off in the middle of it but she still remembered that this concerned something of extreme importance. Jeremiah had told her that Suzaku was now Zero, she was not surprised because she knew that Suzaku wouldn't die that easily. She had wondered about Lelouch's corpse, but never with serious reason to want to ask about it and now she heard that Suzaku found it empty. Jeremiah said that for his master he'd go and investigate, he still served Lelouch vi Britannia and would get involved in any situation if it concerned him or his family name. Jeremiah explained that Suzaku had buried him where no one could find them, it was a personal place where they spend most of their childhood days and it wasn't that far from the Kururugi shrine. They were now near a village that was closest to the grave and shrine and Jeremiah probably hoped to find answers from the villagers there. She knew this because he didn't say anything and instead kept on walking as his eyes scouted the area for any irregularities.

The wind blew through her hair and she raised her hand to get the strains of pink away from her sight, when she looked again she suddenly felt a shiver run up her spine and her anxiousness grew as they came closer to the village. There was something wrong but she couldn't explain what it was. The main street was abandoned and she saw a pile of burned wood in the middle of the town, this she found strange and as she came closer she noticed various items lying amongst the remains of half burned wood. Her foot came in contact with something and she looked down, when she saw a picture frame of the former Emperor Lelouch she jumped back as if it were cursed.

"What is this?"

She whispered out to the man beside her and he looked down at the cracked frame with sadness as he answered her question.

"This is done by the idiots who can't see further than their noses, it is what Lelouch strived for to create a new tomorrow. A ritual in which they burn all that is acquainted to him like cowardly dogs dancing in the night when the moon is already gone. It happens not only here but everywhere, they celebrate the devil's defeat and cry his name when he can no longer hear it..."

She listened to those wise words and only then realised that she knows nothing of the current world. The student Lelouch she knew was a kind and gentle person and was equal to the Prince she had taken a picture of in the past. This requiem had portrayed him as a demon, a tyrant but that was not who she believed him to be. Even Zero was merely a mask that covered his true features, his true kindness and his true reasons for doing what he did. She was curious about him because she wondered what was going on behind that mask he wore. Jeremiah walked forward and looked around as Anya remained still and observant. She knew that Jeremiah wouldn't want her to stand in the way, which was one of his terms she agreed on when she tagged along.

"Who are you people?"

She turned around and saw a woman standing against the wall, her hands held up what seemed a wooden club but they were shaking so badly that she seemed obviously afraid of their presence. Jeremiah heard her as well and walked up to her, the woman looked at his face which only made her more terrified. Without hesitation did Jeremiah walk up to her, the woman backed away and with a warning cry swung the weapon towards him but he easily grabbed it with one of his hands.

"No, stay away!"

"Yesterday, did something happen?"

He asked bluntly and the woman looked at him with confusion mingled with the remaining taints of distrust before she nodded.

"Tell me what happened..."

* * *

The woman led them through the village, past the bonfire remains and to a somewhat larger house in the back. Anya noticed that the streets were completely empty and as they walked to this house they could hear voices, voices that made the hairs in her neck stand up. When they went inside she didn't know what to think, perhaps she was even afraid at seeing what she saw.

"The devil! It was the devil I tell you!"

"No, I don't want to go back there..."

Men lay on beds and were being held down by their wives and friends. She watched them scream as they crawled around the sheets as if there was something there haunting them. She stood still in front of the door and listened as the woman prayed for their husbands to regain sanity and to stop hurting themselves and others. On one of the beds a woman was trying to calm her husband down but he flipped and hit her in the face when he tried to crawl back to the corner of his bed, she cried at the realisation that all her efforts were futile. Anya quickly walked to Jeremiah's side as he followed the woman through the bed to the back of the room, a somewhat older man got up from his seat and looked at him with the same distrusting eyes.

"Travellers? What is your business here?!"

He asked them and the woman quickly ran to his side as if seeking protection. How can so many people be so lost? They weren't here to make trouble, though it seemed that Suzaku had been right about something, something had indeed happened. But how could it have expanded to this?

"These men... Since when has this happened?"

Jeremiah asked in a soft and calm tone, the complete opposite from the people around him it seemed. He walked to one of the men lying on his bed, this person seemed somewhat calmer thought it was only an illusion. His hands held onto his sheets as if it was a lifeline and his eyes were wide open staring at the ceiling.

"Yesterday night something happened, we don't know... Ooy stay away from him!"

Jeremiah ignored the man and pressed the palm of his hand against the man's forehead, when he did his eye glowed up unwillingly and he gasped when he felt a familiar aura around the man below him.

"This feeling... geass"

He raised his hand again and realised that there was something strange about this feeling. The aura of it felt familiar but the power it had was somewhat misplaced. Either way he might know of a way to help this man. Anya watched from a distance as the man who had previously yelled now ran forward to stop this stranger, but before he could reach the revered geass was released and Jeremiah placed his hand back on his forehead. The body underneath him shook and rasped breathing came out of his throat before he calmed down, when Jeremiah raised his hand for a second time was the man now sleeping calmly and the angry farmer couldn't believe what he saw.

"He's sleeping peacefully now, don't worry he'll be alright as will everyone else..."

"How... How did you do that?"

Looking up he now noticed the lack of screaming and saw how everyone had turned quiet. The geassed husbands were all sound asleep and their wives were left confused but happy that their prayers had been answered. He noticed that his phone was ringing but decided to ignore it because now wasn't the right time to answer it.

"It doesn't matter how I did this, now tell me what happened last night"

* * *

The school bell rang and signalled an end to today's classes. She had missed the familiar tune and got up from her seat as she grabbed her bag. Kallen Stadtfeld was enjoying this new life of hers and everyday she thanked Lelouch for giving her this. Only when it was too late did she realise what his plan was, though even now she couldn't grasp his reasons fully but she knew who the new person behind Zero's mask was. She knew Lelouch long enough to know that he'd want Suzaku to do this for him.

"Kallen, he's waiting again!"

"Again?!"

"Yes, come look"

She left her bag and walked to the window where one of her classmates was standing. The girl pointed down to a figure standing outside and Kallen sighed when she realised who this person was.

"Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"No!"

She yelled and walked back to her desk. Stuffing her books in the bag before she leaves the classroom to meet him outside. He was standing nonchalant wearing a uniform from the same school, unlike her he already had an educational degree and enough money to live the rest of his life from so she wondered why he was still showing up every now and then at the exact same spot. Below her classroom, right in time to see her leave.

"Aah, Kallen! Good afternoon!"

"Don't you afternoon me, what are you doing here?!"

As if it were a routine did she walk past him to the front gates and he simply followed her without saying a word, though his smile revealed that he was very pleased what the attention he received.

"Don't follow me!"

She yelled and looked over her shoulder and the tall blonde.

"I'm not following you..."

"Then what do you think you're doing?!"

"In reality I am going to a snack store that just happens to be in your neighbourhood"

"Liar..."

He followed her as she walked downtown and stood next to her while she was in the metro. Kallen ignored him completely but somehow this scene seemed familiar as if it had happened many times before, however this time it was different.

"Ne, Gino...?"

The blonde, who was now walking out in front of her as if he already knew the way Kallen walked back to her house, turned and looked at the girl.

"Why are you doing this? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Normally yes, but Anya is no longer here... My family is being an ass all the time so I skipped out"

"You ran away?!"

Kallen looked at him in shock.

"Not really... It's just that I find you interesting, that's why..."

She remembered how he had said this before in the past and couldn't help but blush a little. Before Gino could realise it she stomped past him, but she didn't know that he was already on to her and his smile could only grow wider as he followed her again. Once arrived at her house he waved her goodbye and finally she gave him a sign of gentleness and smiled back as she waved. When he turned to walk away he heard her call out his name and as he turned around Kallen ran up to him.

"Gino... If you don't mind doing this, will you come with me this Sunday? Tamaki opened a bar and everyone is coming to celebrate the opening, would you come with me?"

"Only if it's a date..."

"Never!"

"That is settled then, I'll pick you up this Sunday. See you then!"

Shocked in place Kallen watched as he ran off, it was only after he left that she realised.

"Did he now ignore my decline? I didn't even tell him the time... Gino!"

* * *

Illusionary, that was how he described the world around him. The sword from his vision still plagued him as well as the waiting man but he knew that thinking about them wouldn't help him further. The next morning after he woke up he changed his outfit and discarded to lose clothing he had worn the day before. The old lady had left him somewhat normal clothing, pants that were too big for him and a long sleeved shirt two sizes too large. His hand passed over the bandages again before he put them on and he wondered if he was perhaps wounded because of the continuing sting that returned whenever he was confronted by a vision of kind.

Breakfast was somewhat awkward, he looked at the sweet omelette and even without the memory he knew what it would taste like. Misaki glared at him and noted that he was acting weird and rude because he was the person who had made this meal. Misaki probably didn't know that his entire existence was in fact weird and that the child couldn't comprehend to what he was going through.

"Don't look at it as if it is disgusting!"

The child complained as he took his first bite, the taste was just as he had imagined it. He didn't want to be here, it felt unnatural for him to be in this atmosphere. He wanted knowledge, not only of himself but most importantly about that word that kept on wandering to his conscious. Suzaku. A flash of green passed through his vision and suddenly he dropped his chopsticks in shock. They fell down on the table and he merely stared forward, ignoring the extra wave of complaints from the young boy as he realised that he just saw something. Eyes, he saw eyes. He was certain he saw green eyes just now.

"Is something wrong?"

A voice asked him in the distance and he looked up at the old lady who was eating in her armchair. He quickly apologized and continued eating. As quick as it appeared had the memory now left him again, he remembered that he saw a pair of eyes and that they were green but their look was now forgotten and the rest of the time he remained quiet as he tried to remember them and with them perhaps even more. He wanted to know about himself, why he carried the face of a tyrant and why he crawled out of the earth begging for life. These things occupied him as he continued eating and when breakfast had ended the old lady turned to him once more and asked him.

"Would you be so kind and do the dishes?"

"Yes, don't you think that our food comes for free!"

Was a comment coming from the brat next to him.

"Misaki?"

"Yes?"

He used an entirely different tone against her and with innocent eyes did he gaze up at her. After all she was his mentor.

"You can do the laundry"

"Eeh..."

He cried out but nonetheless he did what was asked of him. Misaki got up from his sitting pillow and left the room. Leaving only Lelouch with the elder blind lady of the house.

"You..."

She stopped for a moment and Lelouch looked at her.

"What should I call you?"

She then asked in a kind tone, but her kindness was not received the way she intended it to be. Lelouch looked at her and even though his expression was unreadable inside he was panicking a little. Since he carried the face of Lelouch vi Britannia did that also mean that he carried his identity?

"I..."

He stopped and remained silent as he pondered what his answer should be. Should he lie to her?

"I know who you are..."

"Eeh...?"

He looked at her again and the woman smiled at him. He was only getting more and more confused by her sayings.

"You feel the same as that woman. She stayed here for a while years ago, I'm sorry but when you get older you start losing track of those things"

"Who was she?"

"She had a similar aura as you have now. Do you, like her, not remember? Your name, your past..."

"Sort of, I'm not sure"

He felt uneasy about this situation. A woman who carried the same aura as he did, who did she mean by that? Perhaps this person was someone he knew or someone who knew why he was this way. But he felt uneasy to expose himself to her because he was still afraid that she would hate him like the villagers. Even when he didn't know of the things that he had done did he know that he had to be careful.

"That is alright. Now, would you be so kind and help Misaki with his chores?"

"What do I need to do?"

"Could you do the dishes for him?"

"Of course"

He bowed to her and gathered the bowls and cups, he got up from his seat and walked to the old lady to grab her plate. She didn't sit with them when they ate, she was always sitting in her arm chair. Nori looked at him as he grabbed her plate but this time the dog didn't growl, though he was still careful around him and didn't pet it on his head.

"When you're done please take Nori on his walk"

The old woman said to him as he walked away and he nodded to her before leaving the room to help Misaki with his chores. The rest of the day went past rather quickly. After finishing the dishes he returned to the woman to take Nori with him, she added that some fresh air would do him well. So now he wandered around the forest with the German shepherd who walked up ahead of him, doing his business like all dogs do while he wondered about his history and his surroundings. As they walked up the hill he realised that there was a building on top, he stopped walking and turned back at that point because he knew it was not wise to expose himself. It would be dangerous if he met other people. The dog followed him as he walked back. As he changed his shoes the dog took off and as he walked to the living room he could hear Misaki talking to the animal, he mentioned something about food before he continued to the sliding door.

* * *

A truck drove down the countryside road, the man driving inhaled from a cigarette as he looked at the green pains from his open window. It was a beautiful day, there were no clouds to block to warm rays of the sun and the harvest had been great that day. He was exhausted though and knowing that he still had hours to go before even reaching his hometown only made life less appealing for him. He looked up as he saw someone walking up ahead, he was surprised that someone would be walking in the middle of nowhere and thus he came to a stop next to this person. Leaning over and opening the passenger door on the other side he looked at the woman who stared at him without any clear expression. Golden eyes blinked as he laughed and sat ups straight.

"I'm sorry young lady, I saw you walking and figured maybe you would want a ride"

The woman put her suitcase on the ground together with what seemed an oversized plushie of sort.

"How long until I reach the next town?"

She asked him as her hand pushed a strain of green hair over her shoulder.

"I would guess... at leased another hour, two if you go on foot. That's why I was wondering wouldn't it be a shame to let such a pretty lady walk all the way there"

She remained silent for a moment as if thinking and then she said.

"I'll take your offer... on one condition"

"And that is?"

"I ride in the back"

The cigarette nearly dropped from his mouth and he stared at her unblinking because of this weird condition. Of course he wouldn't do anything to her but the back was filled with remains of hay and crates, it wouldn't be comfortable. Eventually he sighed and said to her.

"Do as you please..."

The green haired woman bowed to him and picked up her things, she threw them in the back of the truck and climbed in. The man in the truck watched from the mirror and noticed that the green haired woman stopped mid-step when she tried to climb onboard and after a minute or so stepped off and walked back to the driver. He lowered his window again and wondered if she had changed her mind.

"I changed my mind, I'll walk"

Her expression was as emotionless as it was before and she didn't even wait for a response because before he could give one to her she was already gone and was at the back of the truck retrieving her belongings. The driver sighed deeply and leaned forward over the steering wheel.

"Women... I'll never understand them"

The truck continued on and the green haired witch remained standing in the middle of the road, the wind brushing through her hair with sounds that could have been whispers. The coldness of her eyes had partly been melted and only in the absence of others did she facially show what was on her mind and right now many things went through, things she had forgotten about and things that were not foreseen.

"You're back aren't you..."

* * *

It was getting late, Lelouch watched as the young boy yawned for the third time in a short moment as his hands passed through the heated water to wipe off any remains of food. Misaki was standing on a wooden bucket turned upside down so that he could reach the counter, every now and then he would walk to the back to put the dried dishes in their cabinets.

"Misaki...?"

"What leech?"

Lelouch frowned at that comment.

"You can go to bed, I'll finish this up"

The boy's face lit up at those words and within seconds had he finished drying the cup, had put it in its cabinet and had hung up his drying towel.

"Tell the old lady you're going bed"

Half the sentence remained unheard because in the middle of it the door was slammed shut again and footsteps echoed through the small building. Lelouch sighed and continued but looked up again when the door opened to the kitchen and Misaki walked inside again to retrieve some things, a drinking bowl as well as a bottle which he filled with cold water.

"Obaa-chan wants to see you"

He raised his hands out of the water and shook them to get rid of the excessive water before drying them off with a towel. As he walked through the wooden hallways he could smell something weird and when he opened the sliding doors to the living area he was confronted by an aroma that nearly made him breathless. He walked inside and sat down near the table and watched as the old lady, who still sat in the same chair, continued to grind herbs in a round granite bowl. Her left hand raised to some flower lying on the table next to her, they were of unknown kind to him but she added several before grinding them to a pulpy mixture whose smell filled up the entire room, it smelled like flowers and lemon grass, but the kind of flowers whose smell was so strong that it brought tears in his eyes if he didn't blink as much as he now did.

"Dear, could you hold the teapot?"

Without questions did he follow her orders and grabbed the teapot standing on the table, the water inside was not all too hot and he walked over to her. Her wrinkled hands removed the lid and with a wooden spoon did she push the orange, brown substance in the warm water and when that was done she stirred the liquid.

"What is this?"

The old woman smiled.

"It is something I read about when my eyes could still see this world. You might want to consider asking what it does rather than what it is, because simply put it is tea but what it does is something that differs from person to person and for you it might even show you what road you must take, now put it in one of the bowels please"

He did what was asked and was surprised that water pouring out now carried an orange tint that resembled soup, he wanted to fill another but the elder lady stopped him.

"I am sorry to put you in such a situation, but right now this is the best I can think off, everyone has a purpose. Mine was to become Misaki's guardian and as long as yours remains unknown to you, you will never be able to progress further. You're just like that woman"

"You spoke of her before, but what do you mean we are the same?"

"I don't know much about her because she didn't know herself either, but you feel like her. Your presence I mean and perhaps this is another road for me to take, the road of guidance for your kind"

Lelouch looked at the steaming liquid and listened to the elder's words.

"You must drink that liquid, what you will see I don't know. Maybe the future or maybe the past but what I do know is that it shows you what is most important to you and for you that might even be the reason why you are here"

"The reason why I am here?"

He mumbled and his hands took a hold of the round clay made bowel, he looked into the liquid and thought for a second. Soft warmth spread through his stomach and for a moment he even smiled. Perhaps this could answer everything for him, perhaps this could answer the most important question that was raging through his mind and that was making his heart beat so much faster than it already was. What is Suzaku?

He raised the bowel to his lips and could feel the strong smell in his nostrils as he slowly drank from the tea, its taste was as heavy as its smell and it took him a while to get accustomed to it. However when he was halfway he felt something strange and within seconds the room started to spin, or perhaps it was him losing his balance or grip over reality. He sat the cup down with a loud slam having lost all grasp of his actions and leaned forward where he tried to breathe which became ever so difficult. His arms and chest fell heavy as well as his head which was leaning forward, his chin against his chest as if it was too heavy to lift. He could hear talking but the words remained nothing more but mumbles and within moment his body felt too heavy for him and he fell on his side, not even feeling himself hit the carpeted floor because of the swimming feeling that waved through him.

_"What are you doing, that's not how you hold them!"_

There was a voice in his head, he could hear it now.

_"You hold them like this, one between your thumb and index finger..."_

A familiar voice that still seemed so far away, he could see a blur of white and brown that carried this boyish voice, nothing more.

_"...the other you rest on your middle and ring finger, like this!"_

This place, he remembered this place. This place where he was...

He then saw a long set of stone stairs which he quickly crossed only to arrive at red gate on top that carried the sign, Kururugi Shrine. He couldn't remember why he was there but he did know that he went there at some point in his life. The Kururugi Shrine. Wasn't that the place where he...

_"Onii-sama!"_

His eyes opened again and as quickly as it came did that memory flash by, he had seen two figures in less than a second and could hardly remember them. One wore something white the other was sitting or was at leased shorter than the other and wore pink, he also remembered the colour brown but most importantly he remembered. His mouth opened with a quick gasp as he saw green eyes, green cold eyes that stared at him from a memory long ago and without reason did he whisper that name again.

"Suzaku..."

He fell forward on his knees when he felt something heavy near his heart and his hand rose up to rub over the area but when he heard quickened footsteps he got to his feet again and gazed into the darkness to try and see what was running his way. It was however too late, a figure wearing a darkened helmet stepped forward out of the shadows with sword drawn and plunged it into his chest, causing him to exhale every inch of air that was still inside him.

* * *

It could just be the water coming from the shower that was making his mind think that it was raining like it had on that day. The bedroom was empty, clothes were thrown across the floor and only a dim light streaming in from the narrow space left behind by the half open bathroom door made this visible. The tall curtains were shut and the bedroom door locked. The uniform of Zero lay sprawled over the floor and bed, all its respect discarded by its wearer and next to it lay an empty vial of what he had called his curse and secret, one that he would regret the next morning when he would call it his last only to repeat the cycle of denigration and disgust.

Closer to the lit up room you could hear him, soft moans and cries as shampoo bottles fell off their planks and inside was a scene of imagination, a euphoric memory he once shared with the person he loved. A memory of rain, of heat and of passion. A memory he didn't want to forget and one he would repeat without hesitation. His tongue passed over the steamed tiles against the wall next to the bathtub that he had clumsily climbed into and had most likely fallen into. His tongue passing over the cement between the tiles as his hands stroked over his erection, each delicate stroke reminding him of what had happened that day. That day when it weren't his hands that had done this ritual of euphoria but his, that day those delicate and porcelain hands had touched him and the day those perfect lips had sealed his.

"Lelouch..."

_"Suzaku..."_

He gasped and moaned, his senses stronger from the drug he had taken.

"Lelouch..."

And in between those moans of pleasure came tears as slowly reality sunk in, the remembrance of the sword that stood in his quarters and the mask that stood on his nightstand.

He moaned differently this time and nearly snorted when ears ran down his cheeks, however he didn't stop.

"Lelouch..."

The once pleasured tone now lacked existence and was replaced by the pain he felt in his heart and even when he came there were no sounds of pleasure, only rain. The water was still pouring down on him even as eh remained still, his sobs silent and content because he was ashamed of himself. He cleaned himself and slowly staggered towards the bed, still half wet and he whipped the items of his bed, the cape falling down on the ground and the empty vial falling next to it as he crawled under the covers only to be consumed by the pain that was in his heart and the duty he had pledged to fulfil.


End file.
